Fools Rush In
by hummerhouse
Summary: Leo's heart forces him to disobey his own rules, even though the consequences could be deadly. Rated for language, violence/gore, and TCest references.


Fools Rush In

Leo raced across rooftops, running faster than he ever had as a feeling of dread put wings on his feet. The explosion was still reverberating through the neighborhood and Leo had lost track of his brothers.

A running fight with the Foot had separated them and the Turtle's usual protocol dictated that they rendezvous at one of the designated 'safe' zones. However, Raph was battle frenzied and Leo couldn't be sure his hot headed brother would follow procedure. Leo's hope as he watched them disappear from his view was that his three younger siblings would stay together and that Raph would feel responsible enough to overcome his battle lust.

Just as Leo finished off the group of ninjas who had surrounded him, the sound of the blast rang sharply through the still night air. It didn't require conscious thought for Leo's feet to turn towards the sound.

Smoke was billowing from the wreckage of an old abandoned warehouse as Leo leaped down to the street. Part of the building had collapsed; the front section was still standing but didn't look particularly stable. Leo was reaching for his shell cell when the sound of coughing drew his attention and he rushed towards it.

Three men lay on the sidewalk, each in varying states of consciousness. From their appearance Leo surmised that they were homeless street people and that they had probably been using the warehouse as a shelter.

Kneeling next to one of them, Leo felt for a pulse. He needed to locate his brothers, but he couldn't turn aside before determining if any of the men required medical attention.

Leo had just detected a steady pulse from the man when Donatello suddenly appeared.

"He's all right," Don said. "Smoke inhalation."

Don set a fourth man on the sidewalk as Leo stood up. Coming towards him from out of a wide hole in the warehouse wall was Michelangelo, who had another man draped over his shoulder in a fireman's carry.

"The Foot lured Raph in here," Mikey said. "We tried to stop him; it didn't feel right. Almost as soon as we got inside, the building blew up."

"Raph saw the homeless camp as the walls started to collapse," Don said. "He was dragging men out and shoving them at us, yelling that we save them."

"Where's Raph?" Leo asked, his voice thick with concern.

"Inside," Mikey answered. "He tossed this guy to me just before a section of the wall fell in. He's trapped under the debris."

"We started back to get him, but he told us to take these men to safety," Don said. "We could see the Foot were beginning to come inside and Raph said we were too visible. He said if he was still and quiet they would walk right past him; then he could wiggle free."

"There's no way he's getting out from under that concrete," Mikey said. "I could tell he was hurt and that slab is way too heavy. The Foot are gonna see him."

Leo's heart had begun pounding as soon as Mikey had said Raph was trapped, now it jumped into his throat. His feelings for Raph had been changing over the last few years, a fact that he'd hidden. One of Leo's biggest fears was that his brother would get himself into just such a situation as this and that Leo would react rashly due to this emotional attachment.

Even as Leo's mind told him that the most logical thing they could do would be to draw the Foot away from the scene and away from Raph, Leo knew he couldn't do that. Hoping that the building wouldn't collapse further while playing tag with the Foot wasn't an option.

There was no way to tell how long it would take to get the Foot ninjas far enough away from the scene in order to then lose them. Until then, Raph would be trapped under tons of concrete and metal, injured to an extent that was at this point unknown.

"I'm going after him," Leo said resolutely.

Don and Mikey stared at him. Both of them knew enough about battle tactics to realize that wasn't the best decision under current circumstances.

"Dude," Mikey said, "Raph made us leave because he knows it's dangerous in there. We gotta get the Foot away from here first."

"Don, call for emergency services to come for these men. Tell them there was some type of explosion and that the area isn't safe," Leo ordered. "Then you and Mikey make some noise and see how many of the Foot you can pull out of this area. Lead them on a nice, long chase, but stay out of their reach."

When he finished giving them directions, Leo turned and strode towards the opening in the wall.

"Leo." Don grabbed his older brother's arm in order to stop him. "If you go in there now you'll be killed. The entire area is structurally unsafe and the Foot are everywhere. Before Mike and I can draw them off, they'll see either you or Raph. The bounty on your head is a lot higher than all the rest of ours combined. Those ninjas won't leave if they know you're in there."

"I'll just have to make sure they don't know I'm there," Leo said.

"You don't understand," Don insisted. "When we got separated and Raph followed that small contingent of Foot into the building, I looked back and saw dozens of them coming down from rooftops. The only reason they aren't out here right now is because they're all inside trying to find our bodies."

"Raph knew," Mikey said. "He figured it out after he got trapped. That's why he wanted us to get out. He wanted us to find you 'cause he knew you'd find a way to save all of us, but he sure as shell didn't want you to go in after him."

"If we three leave, there's no guarantee that all of the Foot will follow," Leo said grimly. "Either they'll find him, the rest of the building will fall, or the Foot will set something off to bring the rest of it down just to be on the safe side. We don't have time for all three of us to run away."

"There's no guarantee that any of the Foot will follow Mikey and I if they don't see you too," Don argued. "Dammit Leo, I don't want to lose two brothers."

"And I don't want to lose Raph," Leo said, pulling his arm out of Don's grip. He stood completely still for a moment, bracing himself against his brothers stares. "I'm dead without him," Leo said in a low voice. "Don't you understand? Without Raph I'm nothing."

"Leo?" Mikey's voice quavered.

Leo closed his eyes, tilting his head back. His lips ground together for just a moment, before he opened them to say, "I love you guys; you're my brothers. But with Raph it's something . . . something _more_. I can't explain and I haven't time to try."

"You don't have to," Don said. "Did you really think that I could watch the two of you going at each other all these years without wondering if there was something else you were fighting?"

"You're still our leader, Leo," Mikey said. "What do we do if you get killed?"

Leo opened his eyes finally and turned back to look at Mikey. He should have guessed that his youngest brother would ask the most difficult question while cutting straight to the core of Leo's problem all at the same time.

"I'm not going to get killed," Leo said firmly. "No more talking, we have to move now. Do what I told you to; I'll call you on the shell cell when Raph and I are safe. Where is he?"

"From here you pass through a large room, keep going straight ahead and you'll find a door. Through that door veer left for about forty paces and you'll see where the back half of the building has fallen in. There's a lot of debris from the homeless camp in one area and that's where Raph is trapped," Don answered. "The place has got to be swarming with Foot by now. Please Leo, can you think about this a little more?"

"No," Leo said shortly.

Without giving his brothers time to argue further, Leo disappeared into the building.

Once inside, he gave himself a second to allow his eyes to adjust to the gloom and the dust filled air. He couldn't see the opposite wall, but Don had told him it was straight ahead and he started moving.

Leo knew he was being foolhardy, but he couldn't help it. Raph would absolutely not expect him to come inside and try to affect a rescue; in fact, his hot headed brother was probably going to be very angry that Leo had put himself into harm's way. It was Leo who had drilled into them that the time might come where one of them might be lost in battle and they had to be mentally prepared to deal with that. It was so much easier to say that cold bloodedly when looking at all three of his safe and healthy brothers than to follow his own preaching's, especially since it was Raph who was lost.

The door became visible when Leo was still several feet away and rather than make a beeline for it, Leo stepped to the side and came up against the wall next to it. He sensed rather than heard a presence and waited silently.

A second later, a Foot ninja appeared in the open doorway. His katana was drawn and it preceded him into the room. He was moving slowly, his gaze going first to the right, as Leo knew it would. On the left side of the door, Leo struck.

When the ninja fell unconscious, Leo caught him before he hit the ground and dragged him aside. Going back to the door, Leo waited for another second before sliding through it into the main part of the warehouse.

As quiet as they were attempting to be, the Foot ninjas were loud to Leo's trained hearing. Crouching next to a support post, he listened carefully to their sounds, pinpointing their location on a map in his mind's eye.

He could sense Raphael. His brother was immobile and silent, his breathing and heartbeat regulated to produce the least amount of sound. Raph had told his brothers that he would lie still in the hopes that the Foot wouldn't find him, and he was keeping his word. A slight smile played across Leo's lips; if Raph hadn't been trapped he probably wouldn't be prudent enough not to draw attention to himself.

By now Leo knew that Raph had no doubt sensed his presence as well. That was how it had always been between them; their connection was an electric current that spanned even the greatest of distances to pull them together. Leo could hear the sound of Raph's pulse as it moved at a slightly greater rate; proof enough that Raph was aware of him.

A loud popping sound from outside froze the Foot ninjas. They broke their silence with low mutterings before a large group of them ran towards several different exits, no doubt going to investigate the source of that noise. Another pop reverberated through the night and Leo knew that it was Donatello's doing, a ruse to pull the Foot out of the building.

It did draw a majority of them away, but not all. Some remained, intent on learning if they had managed to destroy even one of the Turtles. If they continued their minute search, they would undoubtedly find Raph. Leo had no idea how much of a fight Raph could offer them and had no intention of letting it get to that point.

Remaining low to the ground, Leo skirted the edges of the rubble, using it and the dust cloud to cloak his presence. He moved as quickly as he could while carefully avoiding loose debris so that nothing would shift and give him away.

Leo spotted his first target sifting through the broken concrete ten feet in front of him. Raw anger, an emotion Leo rarely allowed himself to feel, bubbled to the surface. This Foot ninja, this dishonorable vermin, was hunting for Leo's family in order to kill them. The man wouldn't think twice about slashing Raph's throat if he came upon him, helpless or not.

Springing quickly, Leo fell on the ninja, wasting no time or thought in dispatching his victim soundlessly and permanently. Unlike the ninja in the outer room, who Leo had simply knocked out, this one was no mere lookout. Perhaps what the Hamato clan had failed to teach the Foot by allowing them to live was that actions carried ramifications. Leo decided that it was time to change tactics. He would deal with Master Splinter's displeasure once Raphael was safe.

Shouting from outside made Leo duck down again, and he heard several ninjas rush past his position. Even without recognizing words, Leo knew the tone of that voice all too well; Michelangelo was taunting someone and his teasing had worked to draw a few more Foot from the warehouse. It was obvious that Don and Mikey had chosen not to follow Leo's orders to the letter, instead attempting to trick as many ninjas as possible into leaving the building.

If one of them got hurt or worse, it would be Leo's fault. Against all of their training, Leo had chosen to place his family at further risk by going after Raph. It was the fear that he would do exactly this type of thing that had kept him awake many, many nights and had tainted his meditation. His need for and attachment to Raphael was stronger than his common sense. Leo was allowing those feelings for his brother to override his duty as the clan leader and his obligation to protect his other two siblings.

The damage was done and Leo had to rely on Don's intellect and Mikey's wiles to keep them safe. From the sounds around him, Leo could tell that the Foot who had been drawn outside were leaving, so it seemed that Don and Mike had finally started running.

Leo could see the remains of the homeless camp now. A ninja stood near one of several large cardboard boxes, his head turned towards one of the exits. He appeared undecided about remaining to continue his search, or following his comrades in chasing the Turtles.

His indecision was the end of him. Leo pounced, drawing his blade across the ninja's throat in a silent kill. When the body slid to the ground, Leo dropped one of the boxes on top of it.

A tingling sensation was dancing across Leo's nerves, adrenalin pumping into his bloodstream. When another Foot ninja appeared, climbing over a large chunk of the ceiling that had collapsed, Leo bounded six feet into the air to deliver a slashing blow that cut the man from shoulder to hip.

Dropping back down without a sound, Leo focused his concentration once more on locating the remainder of the Foot. Many of them had left, lured away by Don and Mike. Leo had dispatched four on this side of the building, several more were on the opposite side, and he decided to ignore them in favor of finding Raph.

The sound of Raph's heartbeat drew Leo directly to his brother. Raph lay beneath a large slab of concrete, his lower half completely buried. His left arm and shoulder were also pinned by chunks of concrete and steel, leaving only his head, chest, and right arm free.

Leo could see that Raph had been trying to shove the concrete off his left side, but as strong as he was, he didn't have the necessary leverage from his prone position to do any good.

Raph was staring right at the spot where Leo made his appearance, knowing that his older brother was there before seeing him. The look on Raph's face was both grim and angry.

"What the fuck are ya' doing?" Raph demanded in a low, raspy voice.

"I'm saving your ass," Leo said, his voice equally as quiet.

"Ya' usually got more sense," Raph responded. "I told Don and Mikey to get the hell out of here for a reason. You're breaking your own damn rules."

"Leaders prerogative," Leo told him as he carefully climbed around Raph's head to inspect the debris holding his brother captive.

"You're full of shit," Raph said. "This place is still overrun by Karai's party boys and there ain't no way you're getting me out of here without making noise. Get the fuck out before they catch ya' too."

"No," Leo said as he began pulling the concrete away from his brother. "I'm not leaving you here. We go out together or not at all."

Raph reached up and shoved at Leo's shoulder, trying to push him away. "What kind of shit is that? Goddammit Leo, get away from me. I let myself get trapped 'cause I was stupid, whatever happens ta me is my own damn fault."

"Stop that," Leo whispered, his tone harsh. "Stop fighting me for once and help. You aren't going to lie here waiting for death just so you can punish yourself and I'm not leaving without you. Get that into your thick head just once in your life."

"Fuck ya', Leo," Raph retorted. "Fuck ya' and that high and mighty horse you're riding on. Ya' don't know a damn thing about how I feel for being lured into a trap and nearly killing Mike and Don too."

"Enlighten me later," Leo said. "Are your legs crushed? Can you feel the rest of your body?"

"Ah, shit," Raph said with feeling. "My legs are fine and I can wiggle my toes. Something under here is bracing the slab and keeping it off of me, but it's also keeping me from moving. Ya' got a winch and chain tucked into your belt so ya' can pull it off of me?"

"Sarcasm isn't helpful," Leo said, sliding a chunk of concrete off of Raph's arm.

Raph's grimace drew his attention and he stopped. "Are you okay?" Leo asked.

"'M fine," Raph said through tight lips. "Ya' took a piece of skin with that rock is all."

"Sorry," Leo said contritely, pulling a couple of steel rods away from Raph's hand.

When Raph snorted, Leo looked up again to see his brother laughing at him. "First time ya' ever apologized for anything while we were in the middle of an argument."

"It's the first time we've ever argued while I was trying to save your life," Leo answered, attempting to sound casual.

"That ain't true," Raph said. "I've saved your tail and you've saved mine lots of times, and we were usually fighting about something then too. The only thing different about now is that ya' came in here after me knowing ya' shouldn't have. Ya' put Don and Mike at risk so ya' could save me and that ain't like ya'."

Leo shrugged as he dug the rest of the debris away from Raph's shoulder. "Can you move your arm?"

Raph grunted as he flexed his hand and then lifted his arm, rotating it as much as he could from his prone position. Leo started to move down to begin working on the slab that was pinning his brother, but Raph reached up and caught the back of Leo's neck to hold him in place.

"How many of them did ya' kill ta get ta me?" Raph asked.

Raph's eyes were boring into his and Leo knew lying was pointless. "Three," he said.

"Did ya' feel anything when ya' did it?" Raph was holding onto Leo, giving him no room to move as he stared into his soul.

"Rage," Leo answered truthfully. "They wanted to kill you and I wanted to kill them."

"Why?" Raph asked, insistent. "Ya' never did that before; ya' never did anything like this before. Tell me the damn truth, Leo."

Leo's mouth opened and then closed. He was drowning in Raph's golden orbs, Raph's passion washing over him in waves that were impossible to ignore. Everything Leo had ever felt was there, every true emotion that he'd ever experienced was through Raphael and it suddenly seemed senseless to deny it any longer.

"Because I love you," Leo whispered, his voice cracking slightly.

Raph remained silent for a moment as he continued to study Leo. Then a corner of his mouth lifted in a familiar cocky grin.

"Ya' sure are a stubborn asshole," Raph said. "It figures you'd wait ta tell me that when I'm pinned under a ton of concrete and can't do anything about it."

"It figures you'd get yourself into this kind of situation just to force a confession out of me," Leo retorted, yanking free of Raph's grip.

Leo reached past Raph's chest, his hands sliding past the lip of concrete as he tried to feel for whatever was holding his brother down. The tips of his fingers connected with smooth metal and he traced the shape, finding that a portion of what seemed to be a steel girder was both holding the slab up and pinning Raph's thighs.

"Someone's coming," Raph hissed.

The words had barely finished leaving his mouth before Leo was gone; shadow silent and lightning fast. Raph turned his head and saw a Foot ninja climbing over rubble and heading directly towards him.

Raph could almost see the gleam of the ninja's eyes through his mask. Lifting his drawn sword, the ninja took aim at Raph's exposed neck.

A fine spray of blood littered the stone around Raph as Leo slid into position behind the Foot and relieved the ninja of his head. The only sound that followed was a light thud as the skull hit concrete and rolled out of sight.

Leo caught the body beneath its arms and pushed it to the side before returning to Raph. While he studied the position and size of the slab lying across his brother's body, Raph watched him.

"Four," Raph said quietly.

Leo's eyes came up to meet Raph's and then returned to the concrete slab. "What do you want me to say?"

Raph slid his tongue across his lips. "Ya' can't move this concrete by yourself, it's too heavy. The Foot who are chasing Mike and Don are gonna realize it's just the two of them and a few of 'em are gonna be smart enough ta come back here. Are ya' gonna stand over me slashing at them until they finally overrun your ass? Are ya' gonna make me watch them kill ya' before they get me too?"

"Since when did you start having a defeatist attitude?" Leo asked, his tone mild.

"That's what fucking pisses me off about ya'," Raph said angrily. "Ya' can't let me be right even when I am. Ya' always gotta have the last word. Would ya' stop tryin' ta be a hero and just get the fuck out of here?"

Leo spun on him, his face twisted by the emotions he was trying to keep under control. "I'm not going to leave you. I . . . can't. Just the thought of life without . . . shut up, Raph. Just shut up and let me think."

Raph's right hand dipped down to his belt and the flash of his sai sparked in the low light. It flew past Leo's shoulder before the oldest had a chance to blink and the solid thunk as metal met skin made Leo spin around.

Behind him a Foot ninja teetered on dead feet, Raph's sai embedded in his throat. As he fell forward, Leo leaped to catch him so that his body wouldn't make enough noise to draw more ninjas.

"Number five is on me," Raph whispered. "Give me my damn sai and admit this is a no win situation."

Leo pulled the weapon from the ninja's neck, releasing a fresh torrent of blood onto the concrete. He wiped the metal clean on the man's clothes and flipped it over so he could extend the handle to his brother.

"I don't believe in no win situations," Leo said. "There is a long section of girder attached to the slab that's on top of you. The metal is bent; probably because the explosives were attached to it. The girder is lying across your thighs and if I can lift this slab just a little, it should take the pressure off so you can slide out."

"That's a damn big if, Leo," Raph said darkly.

Leo ignored him for the moment as he looked around for something he could use as a lever. A metal rod lay near the boxes of the homeless camp, but when Leo picked it up, it flexed and bent in the middle so he set it back down.

Partially protruding from beneath a blanket was something cylindrical and Leo darted towards it. Under the blanket was a thick section of rebar, about six feet in length. Grabbing it, Leo scrambled back over to Raph and found the spot most likely to provide him with a fulcrum to lift the concrete.

As Leo shoved the rebar into place, he heard the sounds of murmurs not far away, and then footsteps crunching over fallen debris. Focusing his attention on the task at hand, Leo tested the placement of his lever and then looked down at Raph.

"Once you feel the pressure lift, pull yourself out as fast as you can," Leo told him. "I don't know how long I can hold this."

"You're crazy," Raph said. "Ya' ain't got enough leverage to push up a ton of concrete. Do ya' even hear those sounds? That's the Foot coming for us; they figured out where we are. Leo, _please_, for me, get the fuck out of here."

"On the count of three," Leo said with determination. His heart was beating fast, beads of sweat forming on his brow. He could feel his muscles tighten as he gripped the rebar, then a strange sensation of both calm and panic rushed through his system.

"One, two, three!" Leo shouted, not worrying anymore that his voice would attract their enemies.

Leo's entire body slammed down on the lever, muscles straining, blood flooded by adrenaline. In his mind he could see the slab moving and his whole being moved with it, willing it to be feather light, if only for a moment.

The slab lifted amidst a puff of dust, the creaking sound as loud as Leo's shout had been. Triumphant howls joined the sound as the Foot ninja located their targets and swept towards the brothers.

Raph's palms came down hard on the rocks to either side of him as he shoved away from the concrete slab. His legs pulled free, skin scraping and tearing as it slid over jagged sections of rock and metal.

As soon as Leo saw his brother's feet he released the rebar and jumped back. The slab slammed down again and broke, a large section falling where Raph's pelvis had been just a second earlier. A thick cloud of dirt flew into the air and Leo dashed through it to reach Raph's side.

Raph was trying to push himself upright when Leo appeared next to him. Sliding under one of Raph's arms, Leo reached around his brother's carapace and took ahold of Raph's shell, pulling him to his feet.

"Can you walk?" Leo asked.

"Pin and needles," Raph groaned. "Circulation. We gonna fight?"

"Shell no," Leo said, half dragging his brother off the mound of collapsed concrete and steel. "We're going to practice the ninja art of disappearing."

Raph coughed and then bit his tongue to hold the sound back. The brothers could hear the Foot yelling to each other as they searched the pile of rubble where Raph had been trapped. An angry shout told them the Foot had located at least one of their dead comrades.

Leo pulled the much heavier Raph along at a superhuman clip; seemingly unhindered by his brother's weight. They dodged obstacles, remaining in heavy shadow as Leo made unerringly for the door he had initially come through.

By the time they reached it and made it inside the next room, Raph's legs were functional again. Untangling himself from Leo's grip, Raph helped his brother push the door closed and together they wedged a couple of heavy boards beneath the handle and against the center of the door.

When Leo glanced through the opening in the wall, he saw the homeless men were still lying on the sidewalk. The sound of sirens announced the impending arrival of emergency vehicles and the brothers wasted no time exiting the building and making their way to the nearest manhole cover.

Dropping into the sewers, Leo and Raph ran for nearly two miles before stopping to catch their breath. Raph leaned his carapace against the tunnel wall and slid down, his arms draped across his bent knees and his head hanging.

Leo dug his shell cell out and placed a call to Don, which was answered immediately.

_"Leo!"_ Don shouted. _"Where are you; where's Raph? Are you okay?"_

"We're fine," Leo said. "We're in the sewers, about a half hour from the lair. You and Mikey?"

_"We led the Foot on quite a chase,"_ Don said. _"Mikey almost let them catch him just to keep them interested. We just lost them but it'll take us closer to an hour to get back home."_

"We'll meet you there," Leo said. Taking a deep breath, he added, "Donny, I'm sorry."

_"Tell me when we're all safely at home,"_ Don said. _"Maybe I'll forgive you; maybe I'll punch you in the mouth first."_

"You and Mikey both deserve to take a shot or two at me," Leo said.

_"I'll probably forget by the time I see you again,"_ Don admitted. _"Do I need to prepare the infirmary?"_

"Bandages for some cuts and scrapes," Leo told him. "Maybe a few stitches; nothing serious."

When the call was over, Leo looked down at Raph and then dropped to his knees in front of his brother. Very carefully, he set his hands on top of Raph's, his eyes never leaving his brother's downturned face.

Raph's head slowly lifted and his eyes met Leo's.

"We got a lot ta talk about, don't we?" Raph asked, his tone subdued.

"Not if you'd prefer I shove it all back into hiding," Leo answered. "I never wanted my feelings to be known, for obvious reasons."

"Ya' probably wouldn't have made such a stupid decision in coming after me if ya' hadn't been keeping secrets ta begin with," Raph said. "We could have laid down some ground rules."

Leo's mouth quivered slightly; his attempts at a smile that didn't quite work. "It wouldn't have mattered, I still would have tried to save you."

"Yeah," Raph murmured. "If our positions were reversed, I would have done the same."

"Would you?" Leo asked hopefully.

Raph nodded without taking his eyes off Leo. "We're pretty fucked up, ain't we?"

"No," Leo said, sliding his hands up along Raph's arms until they flattened atop his shoulders. "I won't let you say that."

"Ya' won't let me talk, ya' won't let me die," Raph said mockingly. "What will ya' let me do?"

"Hold me so I know everything will be all right," Leo said.

Raph drew in a lungful of air, leaning forward as he released it. He caught Leo in a strong embrace, feeling his brother's arms circle him as well. Leo's breath was hot against Raph's neck and Raph turned his head so that he could rub his cheek against Leo's.

"What a couple of saps," Raph managed to choke past an overwhelming rush of feelings.

Leo's laugh tickled his throat and Raph held him tighter.

"I love you, Raphael," Leo said softly, his voice slightly muffled by Raph's skin.

Raph squeezed his eyes closed, his mouth curving into a smile. "I love ya' too, Leonardo."

They continued to hold each other, neither moving and both content to remain where they were for the moment. For Leo, the only thing that gave his life meaning was in his arms and he was determined to do whatever he had to just to hang onto that.


End file.
